One that covers
"The one that covers" was a parasitic organism that could physically enhance and transform the host. History The parasites were discovered by Code Talker upon researching the remains of The End after Operation Snake Eater in 1964, and later reviewing the records of The Pain. After studying them and even allowing The End's parasite to assimilate with his own body, Code Talker had the parasites sealed away. Code Talker also speculated that Skull Face may have been supplied with these parasites as part of his parasite treatment therapy, after sustaining significant burns during World War II.Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Kojima Productions (2015). Cassette Tapes > Info > Skull Face's Objective 1 > Skull Face's Demise Code Talker: Skull Face has finally burned out. The world is rid of his existence, at last. // Venom Snake: Was he still alive? // Code Talker: You could say that… But you could also say he’d been dead for decades. // Snake: What’s that supposed to mean? // Code Talker: Biologically speaking, it’s hard to say how much was his “life.” // Snake: Side effects from the treatment? // Code Talker: No, the primary effect. Keeping a dying host alive as long as possible, that is the whole point. But in the end, he grew too dependent on his “children.” As if he had any other way to keep on living. He first underwent parasite therapy before the Soviet Union became his home. His body was horribly burned. Fire washed across his thin, young frame and stole his skin and his throat, even his lungs. Only through repeated therapies could the parasites keep him alive. Most of his “life” became something the parasites gave to him. // Snake: And then he lost the ability to die. // Code Talker: That is correct. The parasites live on past the host’s death, still aiding cell composition. At that stage, there’s no way to extract them from the host’s cell. There’s no way of knowing when the last cell of Skull Face’s body would die. The only choice was to burn the whole thing, and his “children” along with it. Hah, and I am one to talk. When my life is snuffed out, I expect you to treat my body the same way. And when I burn, I will truly be one with my “children” for the first time. The parasites were later used in the creation of the Parasite Unit and the return of Quiet to active service. Although they were generally parasitic, Quiet and presumably Code Talker and The End's cases were closer to symbiotic rather than truly parasitic, as they also gave a lot of benefits to the hosts, in particular enhanced longevity and photosynthesis to produce their own food and maintain their bodies to a certain degree. Other effects Some hosts generated a pitch black gas, which could be used to contain and control metallic archaea. The parasite acted as the host's skin, to a variety of effects. A primary effect was providing camouflaging abilities to the point of invisibility, phasing layers of flesh in and out of the visible spectrum to the point where the muscular system was sometimes visible. The black gas appeared when the subject vanished into thin air with their powers. This vanishing ability also seemed to grant partially intangibility in the form of the host turning partly gaseous, which allowed Quiet to phase her hand out of handcuffs, while she nor the Skulls can phase through solid matter. While Quiet's flesh would only briefly phase in and out of the visible spectrums and would distort when she was using her invisibility or turning partly gaseous, the Skulls would show their muscular systems and internal organs while using their powers. Superhuman mobility, strength and resilience are highly common amongst these kinds of subjects. In addition, weaponized subjects could float down while mid air and slow their falls, a possible side effect of their gas like transformation ability. This transformation could even allow a host to move faster than vehicles. In return, the host becomes a source of nourishment of some sort for the parasite. The parasite could also replace lost organs of the host, as seen in Quiet's and Code Talker's replacement of their digestive systems to make them photosynthetic, as well as the modification of her respiratory system to be cutaneous (through the skin) rather than pulmonary (through the lungs), and to a lesser extent Skull Face's dependency on the parasites to survive. Quiet was also resuscitated near instantaneously by sunlight alone after being drowned. The End had similar abilities, causing him to rapidly heal in sunlight, have superhuman resilience, and survive exposure from lack of shelter as long as he was exposed to the sun, air and water. He, like Quiet, also possessed an superhuman resilience to gunfire, as bullets and injuries did not slow either of them down or inflict lasting damage unless such damage was continuously done before they could use direct sunlight to recover. A host of the non-lethal strain of the parasite could be identified if black blotch markings could form around the eyes due to emotion, as Quiet speaking Navajo to Code Talker caused such markings to briefly appear on his face. These markings also appeared on Quiet's face when she was insulted by Miller, while she revived from drowning, and generally, times when she was in direct combat or intense danger. Quiet's infection made her senses and reflexes superhumanly acute, allowing her to shoot an oncoming jet fighter pilot from a helicopter several miles away, as well as shooting one of Ocelot's revolvers through the propeller blades of a helicopter without hitting them, even despite the great kickback of the weapon. Alternatively, the Skulls had poor senses and reflexes, which weakened their reaction time. Their hearing and sense of touch was severely weak, which caused them to be almost unable to detect enemies presences without their sight or being close to them. Furthermore, they tended to stumble when walking. This made them vulnerable in combat and more reliant on their abilities. These weaknesses also applied to the zombie like infected made from the victims of the armor and mist units of the Skulls. On the other hand, both of them were more resilient to pain and discomfort due to their numbed senses. Some parasites bestowed special abilities upon their hosts if compatible: * Expanding natural human lifespan to approximately one-hundred years. * Replacing and replicating the processes of the organs of the digestive system. * Superhuman strength, speed, agility, resilience and durability. * Near-invisible camouflage by augmenting pigments in the skin and seemingly phasing the users tissues in and out of the visible spectrum, though users can also make only their skin and outer layers of flesh invisible while the muscles and bodily systems underneath remain seen. * Covering the skin in a black rock-like material as armor which could be projected from the body into projectiles or into the ground to cause spike like structures to burst from it, both as a means of attack.' * Photosynthetic skin that allowed a user to recover from trauma, damage or toxins in a matter of seconds while they are exposed to direct sunlight. * Dispersal of a mist to obscure sight and turn metal to rust instantaneously on contact. * Releasing heterogeneous pheromones that attract and have complete control of hive insects. * Releasing high amounts of adrenaline to override pain. As such, because the parasites essentially keep a person alive, even "killing" a person does not give any guarantee that the person is actually dead due to the parasites essentially taking over the biological functions of the person, with it generally requiring cremating the bodies in order to ensure they and the parasites die off for real. Variations "The one that covers" had several variants of the parasite, each with its own properties. The Skulls, who were infused with metallic archaea, had other abilities uncommon to normal hosts. A host of the parasite that also possessed metallic archaea in their bodies, such as the Skulls, were seen with greyed skin and darker skin pigmentation. Mist Parasites Mist Parasites were a variant of "the one that covers," and were most frequently found within Mist-type Skulls. The Mist Unit could manifest clouds of dense mist that could turn metal objects, no matter the mass or size, to rust instantly, which allowed the Mist Unit to turn a helicopter to rust and make it crash. The gas also obscured vision, as well as sensor, scanning and tracking technology useless. This variant, as well as the Armor variant, could use the black gas emanated from their bodies to make their victims zombie like infected, called puppet soldiers, that follow them into battle. This form of control was similar to The Pain's ability to control insects through his pheromones. The very presence of the Armor or Mist Units could be enough to turn a soldier to a puppet. Camouflage Parasites Camouflage Parasites were a variant of "the one that covers," and were most frequently found within Camo-type Skulls. They allowed the host to blend into the environment to such an extent that they could even throw off tracking abilities. It was heavily implied that the sniper Quiet had been infected with this variant of the parasite when undergoing parasite therapy due to injuries sustained from XOF's attack at Cyprus. In large part because of these abilities, the ones who had these were generally snipers. Presumably, the Camo Skulls also had the capability to turn ordinary soldiers into puppet soldiers. Armor Parasites Armor Parasites were a variant of "the one that covers," and were frequently found within Armor-type Skulls. The Armor Unit were named so for their ability to reinforce the skin to a form of hardened armor created through calcification of the skin. The metallic archaea inside their bodies was used by the parasite to allow the host to employ calcification to protect their bodies. This calcified material can be shot from the body as a projectile, as well as be made into boulder-like shapes that are telekinetically lifted into the air and flung at an attacker, or infused into the ground to cause sharp, spike-like structures to burst from it as a means of attack. For defense, the Armor Unit could use the materials infused into the ground to cause a wall-like structure burst from the ground between them and their attacker These structures could degrade when not in use but could also be destroyed by direct explosions. This variant, as well as the Mist variant, could use the black gas emanated from their bodies to make their victims zombie like infected, called puppet soldiers, that follow them into battle. This form of control was similar to The Pain's ability to control insects through his pheromones. The very presence of the Armor or Mist Units could be enough to turn a soldier to a puppet. These variants were also implied to be those that a rival of No Alert released at one of their FOBs. Behind the scenes The parasites are a major element in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. In one of the cassette tapes, it is revealed that, in addition to The End's parasite, The Pain had parasites as well. The End's parasite would later be transferred into Code Talker. Appearances * Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Notes and references Category:Technology Category:MGSV weapons Category:MGSV equipment Category:Animals